(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) This is Polyphonic Press, the podcast where two music fans pick a classic album completely at random. Using the patented random album generator, they are given an album to review from a curated list of over 1,000 classic releases spanning multiple genres. And now onto the show. Here are your hosts, Jeremy Boyd and Jon Van Dyke. All right, hey, welcome to Polyphonic Press. I'm Jeremy Boyd. I'm Jon Van Dyke. And let's not waste any time. We've got the patented random album generator right in front of us here. So let's hit the button and see what album we're going to be listening to this week. And the album we're going to be listening to is Deep Purple Made in Japan. Oh, okay. I am familiar with this one. All right. So is this a live album? This is a live album. Cool. Okay, so this is what it says on allmusic.com. It says, Recorded over three nights in August 1972, Deep Purple's Made in Japan was the record that brought the band to headliner status in the U.S. and elsewhere, and it remains a landmark in the history of heavy metal music. Since reorganizing with singer Ian Gillen and bassist Roger Glover in 1969, Deep Purple had recorded three important albums, Deep Purple in Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head, and used the material to build a fierce live show. Made in Japan, its selections drawn from those albums documented that show in which songs were drawn out to 10 and even nearly 20 minutes with no less intensity, as guitarist Richie Blackmore and organist John Lord soloed extensively and Gillen sang in a screech that became the envy of all metal bands to follow. The signature song, of course, was Smoke on the Water, with his memorable riff which went on to become an American hit single, but those extended workouts, particularly the moody Child in Time, with Gillen's haunting falsetto, Falsetto Whale, and Blackmore's amazingly fast playing, and Space Truckin' with Lord's organ effects, maintained the onslaught, making this a definitive treatment of the band's catalog and its most impressive album. By stretching out and going to extremes, Deep Purple pushed its music into the kind of deliberate excess that made heavy metal what it became, and their audience recognized the breakthrough propelling the original double LP into the U.S. top 10 and sales over a million copies. Okay, all right, so because it's a double album, we'll treat, you know, disc one and disc two as two halves of the album, and so this album was released, there are a few different releases, it was released on the 8th of December 1972 in Japan, 22nd of December 1972 in the UK, and the 30th of March 1973 in the U.S., and the genres are hard rock and heavy metal, and released on Purple Records, and produced by Deep Purple, and so if you're listening along, which we encourage you to do, I've linked the album on both Spotify and Apple Music, so you can get it on your preferred streaming service, so because it's a double album, we'll treat disc one and disc two as two parts of the album, two halves of the album, so it'll start with Highway Star, and the first half will end with The Mule, and we usually take a break halfway through to discuss, so without any further ado, here is Deep Purple made in Japan, and the first song, Highway Star, so here we go, gotta make sure I'm in, you're logged in, yeah, well for some reason it defaults to the U.S. site, so I had to make sure I was in Canada, so on the U.S. one, it only lets you preview songs, so, but anyway, here we go, here is Highway Star. Okay, and ending the first half of the album with The Mule, yeah, this is pretty great so far, yeah, yeah, I mean it's, they're so tight as a band, I mean they're so, like the improvisation is really great, I mean they're jamming, and they're, they're just, they're just killing it, I mean it's, it's just incredible, I mean they're just, they're so good live, you know, because you, you hear the recordings, and it's like, yeah, this is good music, but then you can, it's like, holy shit, they're actually doing it live, they're, they're a good band, yeah, oh yeah, they're a very tight band, they were definitely, I guess, I guess they're one of my favorites, they certainly were one of my favorites, but you know, I've got a lot of other favorites that have, you know, joined the, the fray, but yeah, every time I come back to them, they're, they're fantastic, so yeah, and especially this lineup, this lineup was just the, the epitome of, of the, of the band, really, with Roger Glover and, and Ian Gillen. Yeah, and you know, it's funny, like listening to that last song, The Mule, I was, I realized that, I don't think, the, the studio version doesn't have that big drum solo, right? Uh, it has a little bit of one, but I don't think it's, it's, it's not nearly as, as long as that, and, and the, uh, and the little interlude that they go into right after the, the drum solo, that's not on the studio version either. Okay, yeah, um, because I was thinking, like, it's, so, like, it's hard to not make the comparison to Moby Dick. Oh yeah, well, it's a drum solo. Yeah, but it's also, like, the, the structure is set up with, you know, a little bit of guitar, like the full band at the beginning and the full band at the end, sandwiched with a, with a drum solo. And I, I was, but I was listening to it, and I think, I was thinking, like, Ian Pace was, and, and John Bonham were, I think, both very heavily influenced by Buddy Rich, because they were doing very similar things to each other, and to Buddy Rich, the very, very similar drum solo that he would do. Yeah, well, Buddy Rich, basically, he, he was, he was one of the guys who influenced everybody, um, if you were a drummer. It's certainly a really good drummer. Um, yeah, and there's, you can also make comparisons to, like, um, uh, um, Ginger Baker, or, um, trying to think of other great solo drum, drum players. There's a, I know there's, there's a list of them, but, but at the top of my list are probably Ginger Baker, John Bonham, and, um, Ian Pace. At least, you know, not to forget people like, uh, um, oh, the guy from Rush. Oh, Neil Peart. Neil Peart, thank you. But his approach is a little different. He actually writes out his, like, he arranges his, yes, drum solos. It's not quite as improvisational. No. Um, but yeah, I mean, um, yeah, and it's funny, it's like, drums really are not very often, um, thought of as a solo instrument. It's part of the rhythm. Same with bass. It's, you don't often hear a bass solo. It's, it's part of the rhythm. Uh, but when, when a drummer does a drum, it can be very risky because when a drummer does do a drum solo, it can be very boring or it can be one of the most amazing things because. You gotta have your chops. You have to have your chops. If you're gonna be a, if you're gonna do a drum solo, I mean, you can't just be, you know, you know, Joe Blow at the bar with, uh, playing covers all night and then decides to break into a solo. It's just, it doesn't generally work. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, sure. Maybe if you're like really good and the band really needs a smoke break or something like that. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, for the most part that has a tendency to, you know, bore the audience. Yeah. Yeah. You have to, you have to pick the right moment for it for sure. Um, and you know, I was, I was also thinking, uh, like Highway Star, great way to open the album. I mean, that's a perfect opening song for a, like a show. Like that's just because it has that slow build in the intro and then it bursts into the, into the groove. Um, well, I find it sort of interesting that, um, Highway Star opened up the, uh, the, uh, the album that it's off of. Um, is it Machine Head? Machine Head. Thank you. Yeah. And, and, and Space Truckin' closes it, which it closes this one too. So I thought that was sort of interesting, but they, they kind of know that their, their last album had like the perfect start and finish songs. So, uh, we haven't even gotten to Space Truckin' yet. I haven't gotten to that, no. But, um, yeah. And then obviously we can't, you know, talk about Deep Purple without talking about Smoke on the Water. It's a bit of a cliche. Yeah. But it wasn't at this point. No, it wasn't. I'm not even sure the other album was out yet when they recorded this. So yeah. Um, it might've been. I'm not, I can't remember when the other album was released. I know it was released in 72 in some places. It was recorded in 71, but, uh, you might've been out. I don't know how familiar people were with it at the time yet. Yeah. Cause I think I was reading that this, like the, I think the album had come out, but I don't think Smoke on the Water was released as a single yet when this album came out. Yeah. That, that, that could be it. Yeah. And I think Smoke on the Water would be their biggest hit ever. Yeah. That's kind of their signature song. Um, and it's funny. It was at this point, like the reason that this was recorded in Japan is because like a lot of bands, they hit big in Japan first and they weren't that as popular in the UK and the US as they were in Japan. And, um, and it's the old joke. Well, well, we're big in Japan. Well, that actually does happen. Like it's, you know, bands do break in Japan a lot like first before they do in their, in their home country. Yeah. Um, yeah. Um, Tom Waits kind of knew what he was singing about. Or growling about. Yeah. Um, yeah. And so the, the record company wanted to, wanted to book a tour in Japan and they wanted to make an album. And this album was specifically only to be released in Japan. It wasn't meant to be a wide release. It was only for the Japanese market. Um, and because, because I was reading like I am, as I mentioned at the top of the show, there are several release dates for this album. Yeah. First in Japan and then the UK. And then like three or four months later in the U S it's probably because of its popularity and the fact that it's so good. And they probably thought, well, I think people in, uh, in our home country would like to hear it. So they release it there and then thinking, you know what? Put it out in Yeah. See what happens. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and then, and then it became a huge hit. And so, so yeah, it's, it's, it's interesting that Brecker companies were taking those risks in those days. I don't know if that would ever happen now. Yeah. It's probably a different structure and, and, and it's hard to release something regionally now, unless you're like Um, if you're small, then, you know, quite often only people within a hundred mile radius will ever hear you. But if you're really big, everybody will know. And that's partly because of the internet. So you release it in Botswana in the middle of, I don't know, it could be like a slow day, but if you're big enough, somebody, you know, somebody else somewhere else is going to hear it because it's just, it's, it's just, that's the market now. It's how it works. Yeah, exactly. Uh, yeah, no, there's, yeah, they're, they're, it's, it's just a completely different, I mean, obviously this was like 50 years ago, but like, it's just, it's funny how it's interesting looking at how they thought at that time and how, how the business was. But, um, but yeah, anyway, I guess we'll get back into it. Um, we'll get back into the second half of the album and, uh, it starts with the song, uh, strange kind of woman. So here we go. All right. And ending the album with space trucking. Uh, yeah, that was, uh, that was, that was intense. Yeah. Um, it was a bit long, but that would, that was pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's great how they can like, they've got, it's not just like, you know, noodling for the sake of noodling. They actually go through movements. Yeah. Yeah. I noticed that there, it wasn't like, yeah, it wasn't just mindless, you know, meandering, not knowing where they're going. There's purpose to it. Um, and yeah, it was really, uh, uh, yeah, this is a, an incredible live album. I mean, they're an amazing band. Um, yeah, I don't, I really don't know what else to say. Ian Gillen has an amazing voice. He's got that really wild screech, um, you know, that he can still do. I saw them, um, maybe about eight years ago, seven or eight years ago. And, and, um, yeah, he's, he's still got it. Um, so yeah, they, yeah. I mean, I can't say enough good things about this. I mean, playing is really tight. The, that organ, that organ sound John Lord gets because he's putting it through a Marshall stack. Yeah. I think, I think so. You know, but it's, uh, I mean, he, he gets that tremolo effect as well too. I'm not sure what he uses for that. It might be a, it might be a Marshall stack and then through a Leslie or something like that. Cause I think I've saw, I think in videos I have seen Leslie's on stage with him. So, but he definitely gets a sort of distinct distortion sound that, uh, is, uh, not the easiest thing to replicate. No, definitely not. Um, yeah, it's a pretty unique sound. Um, and, uh, yeah, I mean, they're not exactly a progressive rock band, but like he's up there with, you know, people like Rick Wakeman and, and people like that. I mean, he's just, it's funny. Like he's, I think he's like classically trained. Um, and he's playing in this blues heavy proto heavy metal band. Um, and it's, yeah, it's, it's really, it's, it's, yeah, it's an, it's pretty, pretty incredible. Uh, like there, and they're all, they, that, that organ sound really makes them, that's sort of their unique sound. I mean, he has Richie Blackmore is an amazing guitar player, but that organ sound sort of that's, they're the only band that really does that, you know? And that's, I think that's the sound that kind of sets them apart. Yeah. Um, I'm, I'm thinking of like, uh, Uriah Heap was like the only band that I think ever came close to what they did. Um, but, uh, again, it's, it's different and it's, and, and, and John Lord's guitar, or I mean, um, organ tone is just that unique. It's just the sound of Deep Purple. Absolutely. I believe that, you know, in conjunction with, um, Richie Blackmore's guitar. I mean, it's, it's really hard to, cause he's got a, a way of playing like, especially with his tremolo effects. Like, I don't know anybody else that sounds quite like, uh, Richie Blackmore on the guitar. That's true. But his, his unique sound is a little more subtle. Like, like I think the average person who doesn't really know much about music, when they hear that organ sound, they think that's Deep Purple. You know what I mean? Um, but yeah, no Richie Blackmore, uh, and it's funny, everybody, like one of the first guitar riffs that most people learn when they're learning guitar is Smoke on the Water, but most people play it wrong. Um, it's actually, it's actually played, actually, it's actually played with the um, and you want, you want the, the first and the fifth, so to create power chords with the, the, um, uh, with the riff. And it's funny, it's cause I was watching, there's a, a British documentary series called Classic Albums and they, you know, they, they'll take, they'll interview the band and they'll go into the studio and sort of show you how the album was made. And the, one of the albums was, um, Machine Head and, and he was, uh, showing how he played and came up with the riff of Smoke on the Water. I'm watching and I'm thinking, oh, okay, it's, it's not as, it's deceptively complex. It sounds simple, but it's, it's, there's more to it than just playing it on one string on the guitar. Oh yeah, it's basically a chord that he's playing, but it's, it's, it's a couple of strings at least. So it's, it's a small chord that he's actually playing and moving up the neck. Yeah. But it's also like, you have to pluck the, you can't really use a strong, you have to pluck it, the two strings at the same time to get that sound. Like you can't, cause when you, when you strum it or when you use a pick, there's still, when you hit a chord or two notes in a chord, like a power chord, there's still a very, very, very slight delay between the two strings. But to get that sound, you have to pluck the two strings together at the same time. So it's, it's, it's not as simple as people think it is. Um, and yeah, it's, it's, uh, I mean, this, this, there's so many layers to this music and to this band. I don't think there's like, these guys are no slouches when it comes to, um, their technical ability, but also the feel, um, is there as well. It's not all technical. It's, it's, um, it's got soul, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's true. Um, yeah. I don't know what else to say about it. It's, uh, um, it's, it's an album that my dad had on record, so I definitely was familiar with it going in. Um, but, uh, yeah, it's, uh, it's a classic for a reason. So, yeah. So yeah, that, I guess that brings us to the, the question and I think I know the answer, but, uh, would you listen to this again? Oh yeah. Um, and probably have and it'll get played again. Yeah. The same. Yeah. Me too. Um, yeah, I would absolutely listen to this again. This was, this was fantastic. Um, but yeah, so I guess we'll end the episode there. Uh, thank you so much for listening. If you made it this far, uh, we want to hear from you, whether you agree or disagree with our review of the album. Uh, you can do that by going to the website and the contact page polyphonicpress.com slash contact. And, uh, while you're there, you can check out, uh, older episodes and lots of cool stuff there. And, uh, if you feel inclined, you can help us out, uh, on our Patreon, you can go to patreon.com slash polyphonic press, and you can get these episodes the day before they go live. And I think that just about does it. Uh, I'm Jeremy Boyd and I'm Van Dyke. Take it easy.